Kartografisch Tijdschrift | 1978 | 1 april 1978 | pagina 39

f n'i*

AGRICULTURE, LAND AND URBANIZATION

LAND DYNAMICS IN THE URBAN FRINGE

ROAD TRAFFIC

OUTDOOR RECREATION OPPORTUNITY

LAND USE

CHANGE IN THE URBAN FRINGE

MONTREAL CBD

OTTAWA-HULL URBAN CHANGE

ACREAGE CHANGE IN FARMLAND

POPULATION

Glasgow

TOUfFVILLE

Altona

'icksons
Hill

Claremont

MONTRE,

MONTREAL

GEORGIAN
BAY

Brougham

MARKHAM

LAKE HURON

Whitevale

TORONTO

TORONTO

1961-1971

Glasgow

LAND USE

Altona

<icksons~dii

Claremont.

ixrrfu\'<VRM

Whitevale

LAKE

HURON

LAKE ONTARIO

U/iissis.

TORONTO

HD a o mi

!Waterlo)

nnntf™

Hi 111

KITCHENE

HAMILTON

^<'7ST. CATHARINES

ONDON

mmmmui

LAKE ERIE

Urban Affairs Canada
and Environment Canada

Affaires urbaines Canada
et Environnement Canada

LAND
PARCEL

Wendy Simpson Lewis

This map was prepared in response to shared interest and concern with urbanization
and land. The project was commissioned and funded by the federal Ministry of State
for Urban Affairs, and the map was researched, designed and produced by the Lands
Directorate, Department of the Environment.

In a country encompassing 3,560,238 square miles of land, it is difficult to understand that land
is in fact a limited, unique and extremely valuable resource for which there is no substitute. At a
time of increasing urbanization, land use conflicts and frequent land misuse, it may be appro
priate to summarize some of the existing information concerning the nature of the impact of
urbanization on land.

Private

OWNERSHIP
1972

Although urbanization has advanced steadily since the mid 1800s, the most dramatic decades
have been the most recent. The demand for jobs and social amenities provided in the cities,
combined with the desire to live in a country atmosphere, have produced vertically-rising city
centres, horizontally-sprawling suburbs, and a fleet of commuters. But urbanization and asso
ciated technical innovations have had as great an impact on the land, as on the people. Urbaniza
tion has involved one of the most striking cases of land conversion in Canadian history and no
where is this more evident than in the area between Windsor and Quebec City. The Windsor-
Quebec Axis is a dynamic region and as such it is an arena for conflict between intensifying urban
pressures and other land uses. What happens along the axis in the future, as in the past, cannot
fail to affect all Canadians. Nevertheless, the actual character of the Windsor-Quebec Axis has
not been the subject of much detailed study. The axis is often thought to be a highly congested,
densely populated region but, in reality, it is an area with extremely diverse physical, social and
economic characteristics.

Research assistance was provided by Valerie Cranmer and Susan Williams of the
Lands Directorate, Department of the Environment. Dr. C.I. Jackson of the Ministry
of State for Urban Affairs contributed helpful advice during the course of the project
and was a valuable liaison between MSUA and DOE.

Corporate

Resident

Cartography and assistance in map design by Cartographic Services, Resources
Mapping Division, Lands Directorate, Department of the Environment.

Metro
Toronto

OWNERSHIP
1972

Other

Copies in English or French may be obtained from the Canada Map Office, Department of Energy,
Mines and Resources, 615 Booth Street, Ottawa, Canada, K1A 0E9. Map ELD-3/Price $3.00.

This map represents one attempt to improve awareness of the nature of this region of Canada.
Such a cartographic approach inevitably tends to emphasize the spatial similarities and con
trasts within the axis; those elements of its landscape, economy and society that cannot easily
be represented within the limitations of a wall map format therefore fend to be neglected.

En vente, en anglais ou frangais, au Bureau des Cartes du Canada, Ministere de I'Energie, des
Mines et des Ressources, 615 rue Booth, Ottawa, Canada, K1A0E9. Carte ELD-3/Prix $3.00.

MOST RECENT
SALE PRICE
1968-1972
(price per acre
at last sale)

PARC

DES LAURENTIDES

This inset shows the volume of daily traffic on the main and secondary roads in Ontario, and
on some main roads of Quebec. This annual average daily traffic represents the total two-way traffic
occurring in 24 hours on the average day of the year 1970. Because the figure used is an average,
the seasonal and daily cycles that exist on all roads are obscured. Summer traffic flows for example,
include a high proportion of recreational and social travel, and are often twice the annual daily
average. This traffic density pattern is superimposed on a highway isochrone pattern, showing
the travel time in hours, by road, under normal circumstances from Toronto or Montreal. The
white patches on the map indicate the absence of a main road network. The isochrone patterns
for Toronto and Montreal were prepared independently by different people who used different
provincial data sources. Because slightly dissimilar assumptions were incorporated into the cal
culations, the isolines provide a general indication of travel time patterns but should not be
compared in absolute terms.

The dominance of the two major centres of Montreal and Toronto is immediately apparent.
The importance of the sub-region centred around Toronto over-shadows the rest of the province
in terms of traffic density, although traffic volumes increase on the radial roads around all the
major urban centres in the corridor. These increases reflect both the traffic attraction of these
centres and the commuter trips generated in the vicinity of the centres. London, located 105
miles southwest of Toronto, has an especially strong influence on the traffic flow pattern, with
higher densities than the general trend would indicate for a radius of about 40 miles to the south
and east.

The most important element in the transportation network of the corridor is the relatively
simple system of multi-lane limited access highways running primarily along the northeast-south
west axis. This system emphasizes the narrow linear character of the corridor, which results in
the logical choice of route between major city pairs usually traversing other major centres. The
freeway system has contributed considerably to the high degree of integration evident in the
transportation network of the region.

Within the Windsor-Quebec corridor, about half the total traffic travels by car, compared to a
national average of 85 per cent. Conversely, public transportation captures a higher proportion
of the market in this region than it does on average across Canada. The explanation for this lies
in the fact that the concentration of population makes possible a reasonably frequent service
by common carrier that competes favourably with the private automobile. Road traffic is growing,
on average, approximately 5 per cent annually (faster than this on the freeway), a rate of increase
that has held steady over much of the last decade.

Truck traffic is an important component of total highway traffic since Kitchener, Guelph and
Brantford in Ontario, are important trucking centres. Short distance moves predominate, a range
within which trucks maintain a competitive advantage over rail and air freight. There is a rapid
distance decay effect on truck transportation. Volumes of truck traffic remain relatively constant
throughout the year, but they decrease in proportion to the total traffic in summer, usually ranging
between 5 and 25 per cent of the total in that season. Recreational traffic increases sharply in
summer, particularly in vacation-oriented areas such as the Muskokas and Lac Champlain.

Data Sources* and References

Canada, Canadian Transport Commission, Research Branch, Intercity Passenger Transport
Study, Queen's Printer, Ottawa, 1970.

Dean, W.G., ed., and G.J. Matthews, Economic Atlas of Ontario, University of Toronto Press,
Toronto, 1969.*

Found, W.C., and C.D. Morley, A Conceptual Approach to Rural Land Use Transportation Model
ling in the Toronto Region, University of Toronto-York University Joint Program in Transporta
tion, Research Report No. 8, Toronto, 1972.

QUEBEC,

QUEBEC

Ontario, Department of Transportation and Communications, Annual Average Daily Traffic on the
King's Highway and Secondary Highways in Ontario, 1970, Toronto, n.d.*

LAND PRICE
CHANGES
1968-1972
(based on properties
sold 2 or more times)

Quebec, Ministere de la Voirie, Recensement de la Circulation sur les Routes du Qudbec,
Quebec, n.d.*

Of critical importance are the rural and urban fringe areas which are in many cases under
going rapid change. Transportation links with urban centres have often been considered a key
factor in determining the degree of urban influence. Significant alterations in traffic patterns
and volumes occur as rural areas become more urban-oriented, and as access to these rural areas,
for housing, industry and recreation purposes, generates additional pressures. Land use and the
users themselves are now more frequently considered as measures of the urban influence, and
traffic characteristics will depend on the mix of various land uses. Interest and concern has long
been expressed with regard to the socio-economic impact of urbanization on the rural people,
the life style and the land resource. What is the nature of the role played by transportation net
works in the process of social and land use changes?

TROIS-
JJIVIERES

TROIS-
RIVIERES

Simmons. J.W., 3atterns of Interaction Within Ontario and Quebec. University of Toronto Centre
for Urban and Community Studies, Research Paper No. 41, Toronto, 1970.

199%

AREA OF FARMLAND

PARC T
MONT-TREMBLANTy, L

400%

OUTDOOR RECREATION
OPPORTUNITY QUOTIENT

SCALE 1:2,200,000 (Approximately)
0 25 50

NUMBER
OF LAND
TRANSACTIONS
1968-1972

Kilometres 25

100 Kilometres

SHERBROOKE,

SHERBROOKI

OTTAWA

OTTAWA

Provincial Park Campgrounds

USKOKA

AVERAGE ANNUAL DAILY TRAFFIC
Vehicles Per Day

National Park Campgrounds

HALIBURTON

NUMBER OF FARMS

Greenwood

CORNWALL

96000

64000

32000

16000

Upon inspection, the map reveals two obvious trends. The general influence of the American
population lying to the south and west, which places a blanket of population pressure over the
entire study area, decreases to the north and east. This is most evident in the Windsor-Chatham
area, but is also noticeable in the Niagara Peninsula and southeastern Quebec. The effects of
the large urban centres of Montreal and Toronto are revealed by the east-west extent of the poorly
served areas adjacent to them. As can be seen from the map, ridges of high opportunity lie to the
northwest of Kitchener-Waterloo, to the north of Peterborough and Kingston, and generally to the
north of the study area. These are broken by areas of lower opportunity appearing in the area
between Kingston and Ottawa, and around Kingston itself. The high values of the Algonquin Park
site reflect the relative abundance of recreation land and the comparative lack of population in
that area, while in the Muskoka-Haliburton region, the pressure of the cities to the immediate
south holds down the quotient, although it is considerably above that of the Lake Ontario shore
area. Similarly, the area of relatively high opportunity in the northern region of the Quebec portion
on the map, reflects the potential for recreation that is available, especially to residents of Ottawa-
Hull, Montreal, Trois-Rivi6res, and Quebec City, as provided by such parks as Mont-Tremblant,
Papineau, and Laurentides.

The measurement of intangible concepts, such as recreation opportunity, is exceedingly
complex and plagued by both theoretical and practical problems. Many of the questions and
assumptions inherent in the gravitational approach employed here are being dealt with in present
research projects which have yet to be reported. It is believed, however, that the foregoing method
ology presents a reasonably accurate portrayal of recreation opportunity in the Windsor-Quebec
study area.

Today, all types of pressure are exerted on the urban dweller. Crowding, crime, pollution,
traffic congestion and innumerable other frustrations are associated with urbanization. People
are looking to the country for fresh air, open space and recreation opportunity. However, recreation
activities such as camping, hiking, biking, downhill and cross-country skiing and snowmobiling
require land, and recreation frequently faces competition from other uses for this resource. The
demand for recreational land is increasing dramatically, and competition among users of existing
recreation areas is such that certain sites suffer from the same crowding and pollution problems
the vacationers seek to escape. At the present time there does not appear to be sufficient recrea
tional land to satisfy the particular needs of over 10,000,000 urban dwellers in the Windsor-
Quebec axis. Recently, however, several interesting techniques of partially resolving this situation
have been suggested. Ontario has proposed a multi-purpose parkway belt system designed to
provide open space and recreation opportunity for urban residents and to reserve certain land for
future use, in addition to preventing uncontrolled urban sprawl and linking communities via service
corridors. Preservation of at least portions of unique features such as the Niagara Escarpment is
essential for recreation as well as other purposes. What other decisions must be made, and what
action taken, to ensure the quantity and variety of recreational land resources necessary to meet
future requirements?

8000

4000

PARCEL SIZE IN ACRES

OWEN
iSOUND

SCALE 1:50,000

PETERBOROUGH

BARRIE

KINGSTQN

Metres 1000

2000

3000 Metres

This figure is referred to as the population potential. This equation can be modified to incorporate
the population potential exerted by all population centres within a certain distance.2 The popula
tion potential at any point is:

The use of valuable agricultural land for urban development is a well-established phenomenon,
especially in the fringe areas of major cities. An examination of ownership and market character
istics of individual land parcels in the vicinity of the proposed site for the new Toronto Airport
revealed land undergoing conversion from rural to urban uses, together with widespread diversity
and change in land use patterns and activities. This map illustrates that portion of the 170,000
acre study area which immediately surrounds the 18,000 acre Airport Site. Most of the land in
the study area is designated as Class 1 for agriculture.

The map provides a spatial distribution of privately and corporately owned parcels of land.
The extent of corporate ownership is underestimated due to data limitations; it is suspected
that many individuals purchasing land were in fact acting as agents for corporations. Despite
this, corporate ownership stands out clearly as an important factor, especially within the largest
parcel size class. A predominance of corporate ownership is noted in Markham Township and to
the northeast of the town of Markham, an area of a recent abortive private land assembly. The
many linear concentrations of private ownership in the two smallest parcel size classes reflect
the great increase in small residential holdings throughout the study area.

Examination of the map reveals widespread non-resident ownership. For the purpose of this
research, non-residents were described as parcel owners who live elsewhere than in the township
containing that parcel. Hence, non-resident ownership is understated somewhat. It should be
noted that many properties, although privately owned, have non-resident ownership. These smaller
properties represent weekend and vacation retreats or undeveloped lots. Large properties in
non-resident ownership tend to represent speculation properties. Many of the non-resident
parcels over 50 acres in size that are also nominally in private ownership may, in fact, be held by
agents acting on behalf of holding companies.

The unit price of land is one of the most significant indicators of urbanization pressures.
Professional land appraisers agree that good agricultural land in south central Ontario can com
mand a price of approximately $700 per acre. Land prices in excess of this figure suggest higher
uses associated with urbanization, uses which may reflect society's need for recreational, indus
trial or residential space. In this study, sales for a few dollars consideration, inherited properties
and sales of part interest in property were excluded. As seen, a relatively small number of parcels
sold for a reasonable agricultural value of less than $1,000 per acre. Prices for larger parcels
tend to reflect an expectation of imminent development and thus some of the highest unit prices
are found near the towns of Markham and Stouffville. Unit prices for the smallest size class do
not provide an accurate picture of raw land value. On these small properties the value of a modestly
priced house dictates a high unit price for the total parcel. Also, the high demand for intermediate
size sale parcels ensures a high unit value.

The map also illustrates the spatial distribution of changes in land prices for multiple sale
parcels within the period January 1968 to December 1972. Change in the unit price of land from
the first sale to the last is quite varied. Caution should be used in interpreting high unit price
changes for the smallest parcel size class. If the period between sales was longer than six months,
appreciation of more than 100 per cent might suggest that a house had been built on previously
vacant land.

The fifth factor illustrated is the spatial distribution of the frequency of land transactions,
1968 through 1972. Befor: 1967, there was very little land sale activity within the study area.
In the following four years, iand market activity increased as land for residential development with
in Metropolitan Toronto became relatively scarce and expensive. This area, as any other under
going strong urbanization p/essures, Is susceptible to considerable sales activity, partly the result

of multiple sales of individual parcels. The role of speculation in multiple sales cannot be regarded
as insignificant. In the study area, some land parcels changed hands twice within a period of weeks
with sale price increases of as much as 100 per cent.

Evidence gained from this and other research suggests that agricultural land prices will not
be maintained under free market conditions. On the open market, prices of land have risen to
levels two to four times those which could be supported by agricultural uses alone. This supports
the hypothesis that the effects of urbanization are impairing and will continue to impair the
viability of agriculture within the Airport study area. It was anticipated and substantiated that
land market characteristics of properties within the 18,000 acre Airport Site would reflect land
market characteristics common to the larger 170,000 acre study area. This is a good indication
of what may be occurring in other urban fringe areas throughout Ontario and Quebec. Are the strong
immediate economic arguments, which are advanced for the development of prime agricultural
land for urban uses, sufficient to risk uncertain long-term environmental and social effects of
such a trend?

This inset was compiled from information presented on five original maps prepared by Dr.
Larry R.G. Martin of the University of Waterloo, for the Department of the Environment. The text
was abstracted from his report, Land Use Dynamics: The Toronto II Airport Study (Part I - Land
Ownership and Market Analysis), to be published by the Lands Directorate, Department of the
Environment. Special appreciation is expressed to Dr. Martin for his generous contribution of
information and advice for both the Land Dynamics and Land Use Change insets.

HIGHWAY ISOCHRONES
(Road Hours)

No information

From Toronto to other Ontario points

where Pj, P2, P3 are the populations of the population centres and Di, D2, D3 are their
respective distances from this point. Because of the additional pressure put on Canadian recrea
tional resources by visitors from the United States, the American influence was considered as a
special factor. State populations, allocated to the centroids of the states, were added to the right
hand side of the equation as if they were Canadian population centres.

Calculation of the demand measure is followed by a determination of a supply measure termed
the supply potential. The method employed is similar to that of finding the population potential.
The supply of opportunity attributable to an individual recreation site is also assumed to decrease
with distance. The simplest way of weighting the recreation sites, comparable to the weighting
of population centres by their population, is to utilize the actual land area of each recreation site.
There is a point to be considered with regard to using site area as a weight. The relationship be
tween area and opportunity may not increase in direct proportion, in people's perception. In this
case, instead of using the actual site area, the natural logarithm of area is utilized as a weight.
This decision was reached after considering a law of psychology, Fechner's Law, which states
that the human response to a stimulus does not increase linearly but rather logarithmically.
What this means in terms of recreation areas is that people are generally unable to perceive the
difference in area between two parks with only a proportionally small size difference. In using the
natural logarithm, adjustment is made for this. In the case of two parks, one ten times the area
of the other, the larger will be perceived as 3.3 times bigger, according to Fechner's Law. Similarly,
if the ratio of the areas is 2.5:1, the perceived ratio is about 1.92:1. The practical effect of using
Fechner's Law is that more weight is given to the smaller parks, and less to the larger. The supply
potential at any point is expressed as:

TOTAL CAPITAL VALUE (FARM)

BOUNDARIES

KI"^CH|NER-
"WATERLOO

KITCHENER
WATERLOO

STRATFORD

•TRATFORD:

County

From Montreal to other Quebec points

HAMILTON

THARINES

HAMILTON

CATHARINES

LONDOI

LONDON

Proposed
Airport

BRANTI

SARNIA

Urban Areas

- Recreatiortists have long been aware that the residents of large metropolitan areas have
relatively little opportunity to engage in many outdoor recreation activities. The accompanying
map illustrates this, and also indicates the degree of disparity between various areas. The mapping
of these Outdoor Recreation Opportunity Quotients reveals spatial inequities throughout the
fsfudy area. Most noticeable among these are the areas of low opportunity adjacert to Toronto
and Montreal, and in the Windsor-Chatham area.

CHATHAM

The recreation sites considered in this study were those recorded during the 1969 Canada
Outdoor Recreation Demand Study (CORDS) Facility Inventory. They include National and
Provincial Parks, picnic areas and recreation preserves, but do not include areas administered
by local governments or conservation authorities.

Gatineau Park is under the jurisdiction of the National Capital Commission and is not includ
ed in this study.

WINDSOR

CHATHAM

WINDSOR

FARM POPULATION

The contours of this map join points at which people have equal opportunity to engage in
outdoor recreation activities on extra-urban sites owned either by the federal or provincial govern
ments. 1 The contours are not based on elevations but rather on a measure termed the 'Outdoor
Recreation Opportunity Quotient'. This quotient, designed to reflect both the supply of recreation
opportunity and the pressure for use placed on recreation sites by people, is defined as being the
ratio between measures of supply and demand.

where In S
and D,Dp,

In S2, In S3 are the natural logarithms of the physical areas of the recreation sites
3 are their respective distances2 from this point.

The distance cut-off for this study was arbitrarily set at 500 miles. This means, in effect, that
we are dealing with the opportunity to recreate at sites within a 1 day drive from the origin of
the recreators.

The measures of supply potential (SP) and population potential (PP), once calculated, can be
combined to express accessibility. In general, where the supply potential is high and the population
is low, there is a high degree of accessibility to recreation sites. This accessibility is defined in
terms of an opportunity ratio calculated for each point by the equation:

Data Source

The demand measure, here termed population potential, is the imaginary pressure one would
feel as a result of the proximity of other people. For example, a person would feel less pressure
of population in northern Quebec than near Montreal. One way of computing the total pressure
at any point is to consider that the pressure from each of the cities and towns in Canada drops off
with distance. For example, if a person is at a point 20 miles from town A (population 10,000) and
50 miles from town B (population 6,000), then the pressure at that point would be:

10,000 people 6,000 people

PP= 620 people/miles

20 miles 50 miles

Canada, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, 1969 Canada Outdoor Recreation Demand
Study Facility Inventory, unpublished data.

SCALE 1:2,200,000 (Approximately)
0 25 50

The opportunity ratio is converted into an Opportunity Quotient through adjustment so that the
average is given the value of 100, the rest ranging above and below this figure. It is this Opportunity
Quotient which is contoured on the above map. It can be seen, for example, that residents of
Quebec City have approximately 1.71 times as much recreation opportunity, as defined here, as
the residents of Toronto (120/70), while those of Ottawa have 1.57 times as much recreation
opportunity (110/70).

Special acknowledgement is made to Dr. J.H. Ross and his assistants of the Outdoor Recreation-
Open Space Division, Lands Directorate, for the preparation of this map and contribution to the
text.

Kilometres 25

Medium To High
Density Residential

100 Kilometres

Low Density
Residential

Other Associated
Urban Uses

RURAL FARM AND RURAL NON-FARM

POPULATION

Industrial

Extractive

Cropland Cultivated
Pasture

Population Density 1971

persons per square mile

Feed Lots Under
Cropland Pasture

1971 POPULATION PYRAMIDS
ONTARIO AND QUEBEC

Rough Pasture
Open Grassland

4074-
20610

URBAN

Orchards, Vineyards,
Horticulture

MALE

FEMALE

URBAN POPULATION

Woodland

SCALE 1:1,000,000 (Approximately)

0 25

Improved Farmland
Percentage Change
1951-1971

Scrub Woodland

Kilometres 25

75 Kilometres

Renfrew

Outdoor Recreation

.GHANBY

Water

Huntsville

PERCENTAGE

Land of Class 1 or 2
Capability for Agriculture

Cowansvillo

RURAL NON-FARM

In 1961, this land parcel was
classed as extractive, indicated
by the letter E. In 1971, the
land use of the same parcel
changed to scrub woodland as
indicated by the shade of green.

Major Cities and Towns

Q ONTARIO QUEBEC jr-J

Information not available

Definitions of terms may change from one Census to another. The following are the 1971
census definitions:

MALE

FEMALE

Population density patterns
are also indicated by isolines

Bancroft

Area of Farmland - all farmland including areas under crops, improved pasture, summer
fallow, other improved land, woodland and other unimproved land. (Graph applies
to the study area)

indicates no change in land
use, 1961-1971

n/ Farmland

This map illustrates the change in improved farmland acreage by census subdivision units
between 1951 and 1971. The purpose is not so much to provide a specific value for each sub
division, but rather to indicate the pattern of this land use change in the Windsor-Quebec region.
The term 'improved farmland', indicating areas under crops, improved pasture, summer fallow,
as well as other improved uses, is utilized in preference to 'total farmland' which includes un
improved acreage (woodlots, wasteland, marsh etc.). Between 1951 and 1971, many alterations
occurred in census division (county) and census subdivision (municipality) boundaries. The
greatest number of modifications occurred in Quebec and in those areas of Ontario converted
to Regional or District Municipalities. Such areas underwent considerable reorganization making
comparison between 1951 and 1971 data very difficult. However, boundary changes were taken
into consideration wherever possible. The area of agricultural land reported for each subdivision
is defined as that land operated by farmers with headquarters in that subdivision. Where a census
farm is composed of several parts located in different municipalities, the Census reports the
complete holding as one unit in the municipality in which the headquarters is located. Hence, a
sale of land in one census subdivision to a farmer with headquarters in another subdivision
would result in a loss of improved acres for the first municipality and a gain for the second, accord
ing to census figures. In fact, the land under improved farm use may remain unchanged for both
subdivisions. This is a function of the census definition and appears to be a minor factor in the
change of improved farmland. Agricultural data were derived from published and unpublished
census material for 1941, 1951, 1956, 1961 and 1966, but only preliminary statistics were avail
able for 1971.

A net loss in excess of3,000,000acres of improved farmland occurred in the Windsor-Quebec
study area between 1951 and 1971. In marginal farming regions, the abandonment or retire
ment of farms in response to unprofitable farming conditions accounts for the decrease of improv
ed farmland. This is unlikely in areas adjacent to urban centres where continuing land require
ments for immediate development and expansion result in farm sales to non-farm buyers and the
subsequent conversion of land from rural to urban use.

iver

Under agricultural use, lower capability land cannot fully substitute for higher capability land.
It is estimated that Class 3 land will produce only 64 per cent of the yield of Class 1 land. Housing
and industrial complexes located on prime agricultural land have permanently destroyed such
land for farming.

In selecting or allowing certain land uses from the total range of possibilities, consideration
must be given to the number of acres in each class of this limited land resource, as well as to its
capability and productivity under various uses. The degree of agricultural self-sufficiency of the
Windsor-Quebec region, and of Canada as a whole, will be seriously restricted should the loss of
good farmland continue at the present rate.

of influences and controls which determine the course of such events are only partly under
stood, as is the nature of social, political, economic and environmental consequences which may
result from continuing to forfeit irreplaceable prime agricultural land.

It is clear that less land under agricultural use is not in itself detrimental; the retirement
of farms in marginal or unproductive regions does not constitute a serious threat to the farming
industry as a whole. However, the spatial location and the agricultural capability of the land
relinquished are of critical importance. Land of Class 1 and 2 capability for agriculture is a limited
resource. Much of the remaining prime farmland is adjacent to urban areas. The trend of decrea
sing acreage in improved and unimproved farmland is accelerating; the greatest loss on census
records occurred between 1966 and 1971. The largest acreage losses appeared in urbanizing
regions as cities continued to expand in order to accommodate increasing numbers of people.
Social as well as land use changes and conflicts are prevalent in the fringe, characterized by the
wasteful conversion of farmland to idle or vacant land, and eventually to urban use. The problems
associated with urban pressures on land are evident, the solutions are less so. They do, however,
warrant substantially greater concern and consideration than they have received to date.

Number of Farms (census farms) - number of agricultural holdings of 1 acre or more
with sales of agricultural products during the previous 12 months of $50.00 or
more. (Graph applies to the study area)

BOUNDARIES

Total Capital Value (farms) - includes land and buildings (when being used for agri
cultural purposes), machinery and equipment (present market value), livestock
and poultry, for census farms. The value reported is meant to be an estimate of
the market value, not the original, replacement or assessed value. (Graph applies
to the study area)

County

GEORGIAN
BAY

Town

Orillia

SCALE 1:50,000

Proposed
Airport

Owen

Population Density

This population density isoline map was prepared using GPCP, a General Purpose Contour
ing Program with 1971 census population data. The initial data selection included all census
municipal population centroids (the population centroids of cities, towns, villages, townships/
parishes and Indian Reserves) and their associated density per square mile within the study area.
The data originated from two census files: the geography tape file containing Enumeration Area
(EA) population centroids in Universal Transverse Mercator units and the population file contain
ing EA population totals. EAs from the two files were matched by municipality code and Electoral
District/EA code to accumulate population totals and to generate weighted centroid values for
the municipal units. X and Y co-ordinates were then calculated. The EA centroids were converted
from Universal Transverse Mercator to latitude and longitude for precision and speed of cal
culation. These coordinates were then converted to Lambert Conformal Conical Projection to
comply with the base map.

GPCP is a contouring program and assumes a continuous distribution of statistics, in this
case, the municipality population centroids and their densities. A small grid size as well as a
large number of adjoining points were set as constants for the running of GPCP for the maximum
smoothing effect. Certain adjustments to the data were made for the final isoline map. The
original data selection created a problem. Many small adjacent villages with small absolute
populations but high population densities appeared as large, high density geographic areas due
to the techniques used for maximum smoothing. On the other hand, some large cities, designated
as a single municipality (one observation point) with a considerably higher value than the sur
rounding rural townships, did not appear initially in proper proportion. Data were adjusted in two
ways. First, census villages were deleted except for the predominantly rural areas. Time cons
traints prevented amalgamating villages with their surrounding townships/parishes, possibly a
preferable technique. Secondly, cities and towns inadequately represented initially, had arbi
trary points proportionate to their absolute population added to the data, assuring a more real
istic representation of these centres. In addition, some manual adjustment of population density
isolines was necessary.

Farm Population - all persons, regardless of their occupation, living in a dwelling
situated on a census farm. (Graph applies to the study area)

Rural Farm Population - all persons living in dwellings situated on census farms in rural
localities. (Graph applies to all counties, wholly or partly located within the study
area)

2 Miles

PERCENTAGE

Sound

Metres 1000

3000 Metres

LAKE

RURAL FARM

This inset identifies land use changes between 1961 and 1971 for a portion of the 170,000
acre study area surrounding the 18,000 acre Toronto II Airport Site; the same portion is illustrated
on the Land Dynamics inset. Changes in land use were determined from air photos for the years
1961 and 1971. A land use map was compiled for each of the two years. Modifications to the
basic land use classification of the Canada Land Inventory were made to accommodate the
particular mix of urban, rural and transitional land uses that are most significant in the urban
fringe. The final mapping scale was 1:50,000; the minimum size of a legible mapping unit was,
therefore, approximately five acres on the ground or a square with one-eighth inch sides on the
map.

While the evidence of urbanization may not appear dramatic in a quantitative sense, it is
nonetheless clear. Between 1961 and 1971, approximately 30,600 acres or 18 per cent of the
total study area changed in use. Among the 13 categories of land use, only three (cropland, rough
pasture and orchards-horticulture) experienced a net loss while the remaining 10 categories
gained acreage.

The incidence of residential land use is a critical indicator of urbanization in the fringe. Al
though total acreage in residential use remained relatively modest during the 10 year period,
low and medium density residential acreages doubled. In addition, other urban-oriented uses
such as industrial, extractive, outdoor recreation and associated urban uses exhibited sizeable
increases in area. Pits and quarries, common to most metropolitan centres, are tangible evidence
of urban development pressures. Where such extractive operations coincide with high quality
amenity resources (such as on the Oak Ridge Moraine in Uxbridge and Whitchurch-Stouffville -

an area of increasing attraction for the rural residents), the likelihood of an uncompromising
land use conflict arises. Outdoor recreation land uses account for less than two per cent of all
land in the total study area in 1971 but this land use increased considerably during the previous
10 year period.

The most dramatic fluctuations in the land use system of the study area involved the cropland/
pasture combination. Cropland sustained the largest decrease in acreage with a reduction of
nearly two-thirds, from 13,000 acres to 5,000 acres. Cropland/pasture was converted to all
categories except water; especially large amounts were lost to rough pasture, woodland and
scrub woodland. Loss of cropland/pasture to the urban-oriented uses of the extractive and re
sidential categories was also considerable.

A good deal of trading ol uses occurred. About 20,300 acres or 66 per cent of the land use
change occurring in the study area between 1961 and 1971 represented exchanges among uses
rather than net losses to particular uses. For example, during this period, extractive land increased
by 352 acres at the expense Of scrub woodland, while scrub woodland increased by 354 at the
expense of extractive land. Vnth the exception of extractive land use, land use exchanges are
largely restricted to non-urban uses. With only trivial exceptions, land once converted to urban
use remains in urban use. Because few previous land use studies have been able to examine
change over a period of time, the predominance of land use exchange over change in this study
must be viewed as an interesting phenomenon. It is particularly significant when the spatial
characteristics of these exchanges are noted.

fringe may be determined to a greater degree by land quality than by distance from the urban
agglomeration. Certain cropland on good agricultural land adjacent to the outer edge of the city
has resisted urban development while less productive agricultural land farther out in the fringe
has been converted to outdoor recreation and part-time hobby farming. Another interesting
feature is the location of a large tract of woodland close to Toronto. It has been suggested that
the land rent gradient and the demands of the urban ecosystem result in a zonation of rural land
uses concentric to the urban centre, with woodland on the outer periphery forced farther out as
the urban centre expands. The increase of woodland in the Toronto urban fringe seems to be
evidence to the contrary. Much of this acreage increase occurred on the Oak Ridge Moraine in
Uxbridge Township where full-time farmers are being replaced by part-time hobby farmers. This
area possesses the least agriculturally productive but most scenic land in the study area, and
hobby farmers have been inclined to return some of their land to woodland and scrub woodland.

Although the classification employed in this study is the familiar 'use' type, information on
'purpose' is implicit in the changes in land use patterns that have emerged during the decade.
From these changes, it is possible to gain further insights into future land uses in the study area.
If, in the future, agricultural land is to become increasingly significant for food production and as
an open space amenity resource, the direction and finality of the conversion process should be
cause for concern in the urban fringe of the larger urban areas in Canada.

This inset was compiled from an original map manuscript prepared by Dr. Larry R.G. Martin
of the University of Waterloo, for the Department of the Environment. The text was abstracted
from his report, Land Use Dynamics: The Toronto II Airport Study (Part II - Land Use Patterns
and Land Use Changes), to be published by the Lands Directorate, Department of the Environment.

Data Sources* and References

Rural Non-Farm Population - all persons living in rural localities in dwellings other than
those situated on census farms. (Graph applies to all counties, wholly or partly
located within the study area)

Urban Population - all persons living in: (1) incorporated cities, towns and villages with
a population of 1,000 or over; (2) unincorporated places of 1,000 or over, having
a population density of at least 1,000 per square mile; (3) the urbanized fringe of
(1) or (2). (Graph applies to all counties, wholly or partly located within the study
area)

SIMCOE

MALE

FEMALE

Canada, Department of the Environment, Lands Directorate, Canada Land Inventory, Soil Capa
bility for Agriculture, Report No. 2, Ottawa, 1972

IARRIE

Canada, Department of the Environment, Lands Directorate, Canada Land Inventory, unpub
lished Soil Capability for Agriculture maps, to be published by the Lands Directorate

ETERBOROUGH

Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1951 Census of Canada, Agriculture, Vol. VI, 1956 Census
of Canada, Agriculture Bulletins 2-5 and 2-6, 1961 Census of Canada, Agriculture, Vol. V,
1966 Census of Canada, Agriculture, Vol. IV, 1971 Census of Canada, Agriculture Catalogues
96-706, 96-707 and unpublished data

Data Sources

Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1941 Census of Canada, Population Vol. I and II,
Agriculture, Vol. VIII, 1951 Census of Canada. Population, Vol. I, Agriculture,
Vol. VI, 1956 Census of Canada. Population Bulletin 1-7, Agriculture Bulletins
2-5 and 2-6, 1961 Census of Canada, Population, Vol. I, Agriculture, Vol. V, 1966
Census of Canada, Population, Vol. I, Agriculture, Vol. IV, 1971 Census of Canada,
Population Catalogue 92-709, Agriculture Catalogues 96-706, 96-707, 96-721,
96-723, 96-728, 96-730 and 96-731, Dictionary of the 1971 Census Terms
Catalogue 12-540 and unpublished data.

BELLEVILLE

KINGSTON

Soil Capability

The soil capability classification for agricultural purposes is one of a number of interpretive
groupings made from soil survey data. The seven classes group the soils according to their poten
tial and limitations for agricultural use. The first three classes are considered suitable for sus
tained production of common cultivated crops under certain conditions. A combination of the
two highest capability classes, including soils having no significant limitations in use for crops,
and soils having only moderate limitations that restrict the range of crops or require moderate
conservation practices, is shown on the map. Class 3 soils, while capable of sustaining agricul
tural production, have moderately severe limitations, and are excluded from the focus of this
study. It should be noted that the area of Class 1 and 2 land for agriculture, shown on the map,
does not equal the amount of land available to agriculture. Much of the land is already occupied
by cities, towns, highways, parks, etc., and additional areas have been designated for future
urban expansion.

The present land market, which determines the choice of land use from among the alter
natives, is not completely satisfactory. In the vicinity of urban centres where competition for land
is particularly intense, the weak competitive position of agriculture is critical. Land of high qua
lity for agriculture is also of high quality for other uses. Such competition tends to increase the
price of land beyond that which agriculture can support and consequently farmland is retired.

Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1951 Census of Canada. Population, Vol. I, 1956 Census
of Canada, Population Bulletin 1-7, 1961 Census of Canada, Population, Vol. I, 1966 Census
of Canada, Population, Vol. I, 1971 Census of Canada. Population Catalogues 92-702,
92-705, 92-706. 92-709, 92-715, 92-754, 92-755, Geography Catalogue 98-701 and un
published data.*

ywhitchurcl
i^touffville

Trenton

Aurora

Cobourg

Dean, W.G., ed., and G.J. Matthews, Economic Atlas of Ontario, University of Toronto Press,
Toronto, 1969.

From other findings in this study, it is possible to suggest that land for crops on the urban

RKHAM

PERCENTAGE

RICHMOj

Urbanization and the rapid spread of rural low density residential areas have given rise to
some of the most startling changes in land use. Many attempts have been made to quantify the
rate at which land, mostly agricultural, is surrendered to expanding cities and increasing urban
pressures; estimates range from less than 200 to more than 1,000 acres lost per 1,000 increase
in population. The process by which a parcel of land is altered from a rural use, through various
stages of transition, to an urban or urban-related use, is extremely complex. That Canada has
evolved from a rural country to an urban nation is fact. But the variety and particular combination

Ontario, Department of Agriculture and Food. Canada Land Inventory, ARDA Branch, Land Use
Capability for Agriculture, Toronto, 1970.*

HAWA

.Vaughan

Data Source

Canada, Statistics Canada, 1971 Census of Canada, Population Catalogue
92-715, Ottawa, 1973.

Special acknowledgement is extended to T. Fisher and J. Babcock of the Land Management
Information Systems Division, Lands Directorate, for the preparation of the population density
isoline plot, and to Miss S. Baulne of the Census Division, Statistics Canada for assistance in
obtaining agriculture data.

Lithwick, N.H., Urban Canada: Problems and Prospects, prepared for the Honourable R.K. Andras,
Minister Responsible for Housing, Government of Canada, Central Mortgage and Housing
Corporation, Ottawa, 1970.

Bibliography

Bogue, D.J., Metropolitan Growth and the Conversion of Land to Non-Agricultural Uses, Studies
in Population Distribution No. 11, Population Research and Training Center, University of
Chicago, and Scripps Foundation for Research in Population Problems, Miami University,
Oxford, Ohio, 1956.

ieorgetown; A

Nelson, J.B., and D.N. Nicolson, Ontario's Shrinking Farm Lands, Ontario Department of Agri
culture, Farm Economics and Statistics Branch, Toronto, 1960.

Noble, H.F., Changes in Acreage - Occupied Farm Land, 1941 to 1966, Ontario Department of
Agriculture and Food, Farm Economics, Co-operatives and Statistics Branch, Toronto, 1968.

Port Credit

Bourne, L.S., and M.J. Doucet, Dimensions of Metropolitan Physical Growth: Land Use Change
Metropolitan Toronto, University of Toronto, Centre for Urban and Community Studies,
Research Report No. 38, Toronto, 1970.

unmuum u_ H

Parkinson, T.E., Passenger Transport in Canadian Urban Areas, Canadian Transport Commission,
Systems Analysis Branch, Queen's Printer, Ottawa, 1971.

OAKVILLE

Bourne, L.S., and R.D. MacKinnon, eds., Urban Systems Development in Central Canada: Selected
Papers, University of Toronto, Department of Geography Research Publication No. 9, Uni
versity of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1972.

RESIDENTIAL GROWTH
Before 1950

Pearson, N„ "Agriculture and Land Planning," Paper presented at the Plant Research Institute,
Central Experimental Farm, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, January 12, 1973.

CAMBRIDGE (O

GATINEAU

PARC

TEMPLETON

BURLINGTON

Canada, Department of Agriculture, Economics Branch, Selected Statistical Information on
Agriculture in Canada, Ottawa, 1969.

iHERBROOKE

Punter, J.V. The Impact of Exurban Development on Land and Landscape in the Toronto-Centred
Region; 1954-1971, unpublished report submitted to the Central Mortgage and Housing
Corporation, Ottawa, 1974.

undas

GATINEAU

-v—^Grimsbi Tags; 12

Canada, Report of the Federal Task Force on Agriculture, Canadian Agriculture in the Seventies,
Queen's Printer, Ottawa, 1969.

Niagara-on-the-Lake

Racine, J.B., "Exurbanisation et Metamorphisme Peri-Urbain," Revue de Geographie de Montreal
Vol. XXI, no. 2, Departement de Geographie de I'Universite de Montreal, Montreal, 1967.

LAND USE 1972

FORD

POINTE-

Centre for Resources Development, University of Guelph, Planning for Agriculture in Southern
Ontario, ARDA Report No. 7, prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food,
ARDA Branch, and the Canada Department of Regional Economic Expansion. Guelph. 1972.

Commercial

GATINEAU

Racine, J.B., "L'Evolution Recente du Phenomene Peri-Urbain Nord-Americain: les observations
traditionnelles," Revue de Geographie de Montreal, Vol. XXIV, no. 1, Les Presses de L'Uni-
versitede Montreal, Montreal, 1970.

Industrial

NIAGARA FALLS

SARNL

Clawson, M„ Suburban Land Conversion in the United States, Resources for the Future Inc
Baltimore, 1970.

Private and Public Open Space

Ray, D.M., D.M. Paterson, and L.O. Gertler, Trends, Issues and Possibilities for Urban Development
in Southwestern and Central Ontario, a series of studies prepared for the Ontario Economic
Council, Toronto, 1970.

Pelhan

ORLEANS

Greenbelt

STE-CATHFRIN

Crerar, A.D., "The Loss of Farmland in the Growth of Metropolitan Regions of Canada," in Resour
ces for Tomorrow, Supplementary to Vol. I and II, Queen's Printer, Ottawa, 1962.

Rockcliffe,
Airport

Federal Parks

Ross, J.H., A Measure of Site Attraction, Department of the Environment, Lands Directorate,
Occasional Paper No. 2, Ottawa, 1973.

Doxiadis, C.A., Emergence and Growth of an Urban Region, Vol. I, II and III, Detroit, 1967.

Phrt Co Bow

Other Federal Lands

iirncoe

Gertler, L.O., ed., Planning the Canadian Environment, Montreal, 1968.

Russwurm, L.H., "Expanding Urbanization and Selected Agricultural Elements: Case Study,
Southwestern Ontario Area, 1941-1961," Land Economics, Vol. XLIII, No. 1, February 1967.

Russwurm, L.H., Development of an Urban Corridor System, Toronto to Stratford Area 1941-1966,
Ontario Department of Treasury and Economics, Regional Development Branch Research
Paper No, 3, Toronto, 1970.

PLACE
VILLE
MARIE

BOUNDARY LEGEND

Gottmann, J., "The Urbanization Phenomenon and Its Implications," Plan Canada, Special Issue,
May 1971.

HULL

Provincial

Proposed New Town

DORCHESTER

Hind-Smith, J., and L.O. Gertler, "The Impact of Urban Growth on Agricultural Land: A Pilot
Study," in Resources for Tomorrow, Supplementary to Vol. I and II, Queen's Printer, Ottawa,
1962.

Champlain
Park I

ickburn
lamlet

Russwurm, L.H., The Urban Fringe in Canada: Problems, Research Needs, Policy Implications,
prepared for the Ministry of State for Urban Affairs, unpublished, 1973.

Howard, J.F., "The Impact of Urbanization on the Prime Agricultural Lands of Southern Ontario,1
unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Waterloo, 1972.

LAKE ST. CLAIR

AYLMER

Mountain
View

Schmid, A.A., Converting Land from Rural to Urban Uses, Resources for the Future Inc., Balti
more, 1968.

1970 to Present

Krueger, R„ ed., Urban Problems: A Canadian Reader, Toronto, 1971

Shaw, M.F., and E.K. Culley, Urban Access in the Canadian Corridor, Canadian Transport Commis
sion, Systems Analysis Branch, Queen's Printer. Ottawa. 1972.

Langlois, C., "Problems of Urban Growth in Greater Montreal," in Regional and Resource Planning
in Canada, (Revised Edition) ed. by R.R. Krueger et al. Toronto, 1970.

Ottawa City 1945

PLACE

1955 to Present

BONAVENTURE

'■L&HJOin,

deschEnes;

ST-JACQUES

1' 1 i'i 1111 rr

quLbec- ste-fo;

VIEW

-green

lossom
Park

Kanata

MONTREAL

Bells
Corners^

Irend
Village

Clearview

.Merivale

Proposed New Town

Manordale

CHANGE IN ACRES
1951-1971

Merivah
Garden:

DATE OF BUILDINGS

g 6,000-11,999
INCREASE 0-5,999

In Quebec, loss of agricultural land is quite pronounced in the margins of the study area
where less favourable physiographic, climatic and economic conditions discourage farming. Here,
smaller farms have been consolidated and some of the poorer land removed from agriculture. In
certain regions, such as Lac Brome and Lac Memphr6magog, farming has given way to recreation
interests or to a different type of agriculture, hobby farming. Many of the pockets of orchards
have succumbed to rising production costs and strong competition for the land from other uses.
Many of the remaining agricultural areas, not immediately adjacent to urban centres, are in pasture,
grasses and feed grains. Due partly to the better soils and to the proximity of the large urban
market of Montreal and vicinity, market gardening and specialty farming occur on the islands
and south shore, mainly west of the Richelieu River. To some extent the same is true of the north
shore where specialty farming, such as the tobacco crop of the Lanoraie-Lavaltrie area, is found.
As in Ontario, these critical market gardening areas are under increasing pressure from other
land uses, particularly residential. Like Toronto, Montreal has grown largely at the expense of the
land resource which feeds it.

HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS

Ottawa

Glen Cairm

International
Airport

OTTAWA-HULL

1-3 Floors

4-12 Floors

SCALE 1:8,880 (Approximately)
0 500 1000

Metro

13-24 Floors

SCALE 1:3,850,000 (Approximately)

SCALE l:100,000vfApproximately)

Vacant Property
(land without buildings)

BOUNDARIES

over 25 Floors

Parks

Metres 200

600 Metres

International

Kilometres 100

200 Kilometres

Kilometres 1

6 Kilometres

Throughout the study area, many of the trends in farming are reason for immediate concern.
In excess of 7,000,000 acres of total farmland in the Windsor-Quebec study area were retired
between 1951 and 1971. This net loss, representing a drop of nearly 25 per cent of the 29,300,000
acres classified as farmland in 1951, is not only a continuation but an acceleration of an esta
blished trend. Between 1966 and 1971, 2,700,000 acres were retired. Of the total 7,000,000 acres
lost, nearly one half was 'improved farmland'. Such loss of agricultural land was due to many
factors, chiefly the abandonment or retirement of farms, and sales to non-farm buyers. This trend
was accompanied by a decline of farm population, in excess of one half million people. In the 20
year period, farm population dropped 46 per cent from 1,138,739 to 617,919 in the Windsor-
Quebec study area. This movement of people and particularly of youth away from agriculture
significantly affects the strength and vitality of the rural social organization and may indicate
a further decline in the nurrtber of farms and farm population in the future. Between 1951 and
1971, the number of farms in the study area fell from 224,524 to 137,654. With intensification
and consolidation in agriculture, a decreasing proportion of these farms are operated on a small
scale. At the same time, the annual volume of production has experienced a strong increase, in
part due to the trend to intensification, the implementation of new technology and increased
capital investment.

Data Sources

Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1951 Census of Canada, Agriculture, Vol. VI, 1956
Census of Canada, Agriculture Bulletins 2-5 and 2-6, 1961 Census of Canada, Agriculture,
Vol. V, 1966 Census of Canada, Agriculture, Vol. IV, 1971 Census of Canada, Agriculture
Catalogues 96-706, 96-707 and unpublished data.

Provincial

to be at least socially and aesthetically desirable to incorporate more green spaces and parks into
the mixture of commercial, business, industrial, financial and other functions of the downtown
areas. Is this possible? Much of the land in any CBD is devoted to the transportation, care and
parking of private vehicles. Is there a better alternative to the present ratio of public and private
transportation? In the future development of CBD districts, what options will ensure sound social,
economic and environmental management of these vital downtown areas?

A distinctive feature of the centre of Montreal is the growing network of underground tunnels
linking the metro, hotels, and office and commercial complexes. The growth of this network has
been favoured by both the climate and the physical structure of the terrain. The convenience
of the tunnel system is an important attraction in the downtown area. New structures, including
apartment buildings, are planned to link into this network. The project to relocate the Trans-
Canada Highway underground through the centre of Montreal is another facet of this exploitation
of underground space in the CBD.

As the map shows, there has been recent construction in a variety of areas within the CBD.
The lull that followed the building boom of the mid-1960s, has now given way to another rise in
building activity. Newly announced projects such as the Place Desjardins and the Marc Carrifere
projects illustrate the recent expansion towards the east, and other projects, like that of Canadian
Pacific, indicate further growth to the west. Development is occurring throughout the central
city, and much land shown as vacant on this map is presently under construction or soon will be.
A sizeable amount of land which is mapped as vacant is actually used for parking purposes. This
land and that used for streets and highways constitute the significant portion of downtown area
devoted to the automobile.

Despite its large daytime population, downtown Montreal has only a small number of parks.
The city itself and the surrounding region are very poorly endowed with parks of any size, and
Montreal ranks well below most other North American cities in the amount of parkland available
to its population. The legal municipalitiy of Montreal has 2.0 acres per thousand people which
compares unfavourably with the generally accepted standards, which range between 20 and 30
acres per thousand. The region of Montreal, an area encompassing a 100 mile radius from the
centre of the city, fares little better; 5.8 acres per thousand people.

With regard to the future of city centres, many questions and problems persist. It would seem

The central business district (CBD) of Montreal was defined by the City Planning Department
in 1964 as covering an area of about 1,325 acres. Roughly half of this, the area shown on the inset,
represents the region that has been revitalized and transformed since the early sixties. Beginning
with the six major projects (including Place Ville Marie) completed by 1965, the skyline of the
Dorchester Blvd. area has been radically changed. These developments have helped re-establish
the CBD as a thriving business and commercial area, able to compete with the large shopping
centres in the suburbs.

The primary functions of the downtown area are business and commerce. Of the approximately
150,000 people who work in this area of about 1 square mile, business employs 75 per cent and
some 15,000 people work in Place Ville Marie alone. (The daytime population of the CBD is over
200,000.) St-Jacques has been the financial centre of Montreal since 1817. As well as the stock
exchange, there are branches of every Canadian bank here. Commercial activities account for
about 30,000 members of the downtown labour force, divided among the 275 small shops along
the Ste-Catherine Street axis (between Guy and St-Laurent) and the establishments in the base
ment promenades of skyscrapers. There are at least 200 of these in skyscrapers, with dozens more
to be added as each new skyscraper is finished. In Place Ville Marie, for example, there are 70
establishments, while Place Bonaventure contains 75, and Place Victoria, 30. As well, majoi depart
ment stores such as Morgan's, Eaton's and Ogilvy's have been represented along Ste-Catherine
since the turn of the century.The residential function of this part of Montreal is relatively less
important and the dwellings are concentrated in two areas. To the northwest, a series of expensive
high-rise apartments has recently been constructed, and in the northeast, some of the original
houses of Old Montreal have been restored as dwellings. Some industrial activity still remains,
primarily in the garment and fur industries in the northeastern and southern parts of the CBD.
About 60 per cent of the residual industrial workers are located along Bleury Street.

During the past few decades there has been an extremely rapid increase in the urban popula
tion of Canada. The Economic Council of Canada determined that at the present time, 3 out of
every 4 Canadians live in cities or towns, and estimated that by 1980, 80 per cent of the population
will be urban and 60 per cent of these will be concentrated in the 29 largest cities.

Ottawa-Hull is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Canada and the third largest in the
study area. The phenomenon of rapid urbanization occurring in the Ottawa area is considered
typical of the growth of all large metropolitan centres in Canada. In the 20 year period, from 1951
to 1971, the population increase for the census metropolitan area was 113.7 per cent. However,
the most rapid growth of population has occurred beyond the city limits. The population of the
central area (cities of Ottawa and Hull) increased 49 per cent since 1951, and the population of
the remaining metropolitan area increased a remarkable 550 per cent.

Another trend which coincides with the rapid growth of the urban population is the increase
in the cost of new housing. A survey conducted by the Urban Development Institute of Ontario
indicates the rise in price of new detached homes in major Canadian cities. In 1961, the cost of
a new single-family detached house in Ottawa was $15,772 and in 1971, was $30,955, a 96 per
cent increase in the total price. The value of a standard 50-foot lot incurred an increase of 147
percent in the 10 year period. The price of a comparable dwelling in Montreal in 1961 was $13,222,
which subsequently increased 36 per cent to $18,042 in 1971. In this city, the cost of the lot
increased only 30 per cent. Toronto has the highest cost of housing in Canada. In 1961 a new
detached house cost $17,368 and in 1971 it cost $32,567, an increase of 87 per cent. During
this same period, Toronto had an increase of 139 per cent in the average lot price.

Partly in reaction to this high cost of housing, the trend has been to build more multiple-
dwelling units. In 1949, multiple units constituted only 14 per cent of the new houses built but

by 1972, over 75 per cent were multiple dwellings. This current trend is probably exceptional but
in the long term multiple-dwelling units are likely to predominate.

As a measure to control the sprawl beyond Ottawa city limits, a greenbelt was planned by
the National Capital Commission. Acquisition was begun in late 1958 and was scheduled for com
pletion during 1965-66. This belt, rural in character, was designed to provide a limit to the exten
sion of the municipal services and urban development of the central city. Residential develop
ment began to 'leapfrog' over the greenbelt and several communities (eg. Kanata) have become
well established in the last few years. In 1972, the federal and provincial governments announced
the proposed development of a new town on the southeast edge of the greenbelt. The town will
have a maximum population of 100,000 and will extend over 5,000 acres of land, most of which
has already been assembled.

The planning of economically viable, ecologically sound and socially acceptable environments
for urban populations is one of the most challenging aspects of urbanization. Extravagant in its
consumption of land in the past, urban expansion continues in a disorderly and haphazard pattern
in many instances. Areas coming under strong urban influence must sustain the impact of in
creased speculation and sales activity, rising land values and a changing tax structure, the influx
of non-farm population and non-agricultural land uses, increased non-resident and corporate
ownership as well as other socio-economic alterations. Although increasing pressure from urban
centres is creating more intensive land use conflicts, existing planning and decision-making
bodies at all levels often seem unable to deal effectively with the problems. The longer these
land use practice conflicts remain unresolved, the further the alternatives for the future are
restricted.

Data Sources* and References

This inset illustrates the actual acreage change in improved farmland between 1951 and
1971 at the census subdivision level. Southwestern Ontario is the largest area exhibiting rel
atively stable farming conditions. This region coincides, in large measure, with prime agricultural
land and favourable climatic conditions. The region is well suited to the cultivation of fruits, certain
vegetables, tobacco and other cash crops. Here, a young farm population adjusts to changing
economic conditions and innovations, and the area has a high agricultural output. In the remainder
of southcentral Ontario, the pattern of decrease in improved acreage at the census subdivision
level is coincident with the pattern of major urban centres, particularly in the rapidly urbanizing
areas along the Lake Ontario fringe and around the Toronto-Centred Region. The specialty fruit
farms of this area are at a disadvantage in the land market and continue to succumb to direct
and indirect urban uses. Much of the unique Niagara fruit belt, especially important for peaches
and grapes, has been irrevocably removed from agriculture. In this region, high land values reflect
the strong demand and competition for land among agricultural, residential, industrial and rec
reational uses. Toward Ottawa, the townships in the eastern portion of the province and along
the St. Lawrence River experienced steady and substantial loss of improved farmland. Less favour
able growing conditions, isolation from major provincial agricultural markets, in addition to
pressures from urbanization in the Ottawa area account in part for this loss. Finally, the edge
of the Precambrian Shield marks an area of consistent and heavy decrease in improved farmland.
Here, even less favourable climatic, soil and economic conditions frequently result in marginal or
unprofitable situations. Much of the loss of improved land results from the farmers' failure to
successfully battle the cost/price differential and from increased demand for recreational land
in this region.

City or Town

TORONTO

Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, National Air Photo Library

This inset illustrates percentage change of population for the period 1951-1971,
as well as the 1971 population for counties and major urban centres. Where
population and population change information is illustrated for a specific city,
such information is excluded from any calculations related to that county. Figures
apply only to those counties and portions of counties within the study area as
defined by this map.

Data Sources* and References

Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1951 Census of Canada, Population,
Vol. I, 1961 Census of Canada, Population Catalogue 92-539, 1971 Census
of Canada, Population Catalogues 92-705, 92-706 and 92-754.*

Clark, S.D., The Suburban Society, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1966.
Lithwick, N H„ and G. Paquet, eds., Urban Studies: A Canadian Perspective,
Toronto, 1968.

Stone, L.O., Urban Development in Canada: An Introduction to the Demographic
Aspects, prepared for Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Census Division,
Queen's Printer, Ottawa, 1967.

Canada, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1951 Census of Canada. Population: General Character
istics, Vol. IOttawa, 1953, 1961 Census of Canada, Population: General Characteristics,
Vol. I, Ottawa. 1962.1971 Census of Canada. Advance Bulletin,Catalogue 92-754, Ottawa,
1972.*

POPULATION 1951-1971
Percentage Change

Data Sources* and References

ST.CATHARINES

Beauregard, L., ed., Montreal Field Guide, 22nd International Geographical Congress, Montreal,
1972.

Montreal, Service d'Urbanisme, Amenagement Urbain, Centre-Ville, Metro (unpublished map)
updated to 1973, Montreal.*

Montreal, Service d'Urbanisme, Amenagement Urbain, Age des Batiments (unpublished map)
updated to 1973, Montreal.*

Montreal, Service d'Urbanisme, Amenagement Urbain, Volumes Construits (unpublished map)
updated to 1973, Montreal.*

Leonard, J.F., L'evolution de I'occupation du sol dans le Centre-ville de Montreal et les zones limi-
trophes (1964-1971), Universite du Quebec, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-
Urbanisation, Notes de Recherche, Note no 2, Montreal, 1973.

Appreciation is extended to Mr. Alex Kowaluk of the Physical Planning Division, Housing and City

Planning Department, City of Montreal, for his assistance in the preparation of this map.

Coleman, A.,The Planning Challenge of the Ottawa Area, Department of Energy, Mines and Resour
ces, Policy Research and Coordination Branch, Geographical Paper No. 42, Queen's Printer,
Ottawa, 1969.

POPULATION 1971

National Capital Commission

WINDSOR

National Map Library- Public Archives

Planning Branch, City of Ottawa

SCALE 1:2,560,000 (Approximately)

Planning Branch, Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton

Urban Devebpment Institute of Ontario, Residential Land Development in Ontario, Toronto, 1972.

150 Kilometres

Kilometres 50